When Brendan Butcher left home for the first time to come to Syracuse University, he knew he wanted to keep his high school friends and memories close to his heart. Before his freshman year of college came around, he and his friends all got matching tattoos.

Butcher, now a senior biomedical engineering major, went to a private high school and became best friends with a group of people from all over. They referred to each other as “The Team” and all wanted to be sure that even when they parted ways, they would always remember the good times they had together. They decided they could do just that if they all got the same tattoo, a physical reminder of what they didn’t want to happen to their group of friends.

“It’s so easy for people to lose touch over time,” says Butcher. “People go their separate ways and move on.”

Now, he and his friends all have the same decorative “T” displayed on their bodies to remind themselves of The Team. He says that although they would have kept in touch no matter what, it’s nice having the matching mark as a constant reminder of their strong support system.

His second tattoo, a geometrical shape with four triangles in it, also connects him back to his roots — but this time with his family.

Butcher and his sister were always close and wanted to get matching tattoos that would signify their strong bond. When they ran the idea past a friend who is a tattoo artist, she came up with a shape that would represent their entire family with triangles: one for him, one for his sister and one for each of his parents. They fell in love with the concept and immediately got the matching shapes.

Now, Butcher is marked in symbols that bring him back to his roots and foundation. One symbol is linked to the friends that made his high school experience memorable, while the other represents the people who have been with him from the very beginning. As he moves on and grows up, he is constantly reminded of the people in his life that helped shape him. All he has to do is simply look down at his arm.

“I think that it’s just a way for me to know that no matter what, or how much we all stay in contact, we will always share that bond,” Butcher said.

Published on January 16, 2017 at 9:02 pm

Contact Julie: jlmccu01@syr.edu